Vortexia's Secret

so i woke up this morning (yes, in the morning) to take care of some errands. i'm in full move preparation mode right now. well, almost. i still have one more paper to write, but other than that... it's full on move mode. so anyway... got ready to leave to get boxes and a few groceries to last me through the week. memory still isn't working quite right. as i headed down the road i had a sneaky suspicion that i didn't completely get ready before leaving. a quick check in the rearview confirmed it. hadn't washed my face, put anything on (sunscreen or makeup), nothing. but i had stood in front of the sink as i put my hair up in a ponytail. oh well. i don't need to look exceedingly cute just to run errands and get all sweaty packing and cleaning all day. and i felt a twinge of loneliness as i got dressed because i normally ran these errands with at least one of my girl friends.

so i drive forever down this street in search of a liquor store. the town i'm in is strange and partially dry, so they have beer but no liquor. beer boxes do me no good for packing. you have to use the liquor boxes, which meant i had to drive past 3 city limits. luckily i was on the edge of that town and the other 2 were miniscule little places. in my undergrad days, this was usually a more entertaining trip because 3 of us would come tumbling into the store laughing about something in the middle of a weekday and ask for as many boxes as we could fit in the car. then we'd run them back to the dorms, and hit the next store, same routine. it was extremely fun for a boring chore, and we lived in the middle of a verrrry wet city so we just drove a couple blocks. so back to today, i finally hit the first liquor store. walked in and honed in on my target. a young guy (who i'm suspicious may not have even been of legal drinking age, but i guess he had to have been) who was standing in front of a stack of boxes about to be unpacked. he looks at me like a deer caught in headlights. first time a hot chick has stared him down. oh shit, what do i do? does she want me for me, or does she want me for my boxes? then finally, "uhrm, can i help you??" "yeah hi, i'm moving, and i need some boxes." "oh ok. drive around back and we should have some there."

so i drive around back and the only boxes there were already crunched by their box crusher. no dice. i was tempted to go back in and tell him and then make him run around the store looking for the ones that hadn't been crushed yet, but i knew there was another store just down the street a little farther. since i was already in my car i just drove on. the next place was closer than i thought, so i swooped into the driveway probably a little too fast. but no matter. went in and it was definitely nothing like the other store. it was a convenience/liquor store. at the other place they had to wear little aprons; here the guy wasn't even wearing a shirt. no, just kidding. he had a t-shirt and jeans but no nametag or anything. when he asked if he could help, i made sure he did really work there, and said i was moving. before i could even ask about boxes, he was all over it. asked how many i could fit in the car, grabbed a dolly and loaded it up. took them out to the car for me and helped me fit them all in. and i don't know what it is, but there's something about a young clean cut hispanic guy in dark baggy jeans. he was cute and nice. said if i needed more, just come back and he'd hook me up again. thanks hon, and i'm off again.

the long drive back to the main street then over to the store. at a stop light i had to sit behind a car with both a bush for president and an anti-kerry bumper sticker. i subtly flipped him off and felt justified. i passed something that said ACDC christian school or church or something. made me laugh thinking that they learned about christian values with AC/DC playing in the background. i wanted to take a picture with my camera phone, but it was so bright that the white sign didn't get picked up. if i have to go back for more boxes i may bring my digital.

got to the store and decided this was a no bullshit trip. i was asking where something was if i needed to. first item on the list was bigass storage bins. never bought them before so i didn't know where they were. asked the first guy i saw, and the guy behind him eagerly answered. haha, i need to start looking like crap more often! it obviously gets results. so i load up and am pleased that they're clearance priced. grab a couple things for the move then decide to get one more storage bin just in case. hey, they're on sale, and i can always return it after the move if it turns out i got too many. turns out that was the magic number for having one too many to fit in the car. damn. if i were brighter in that parking lot with the sun beating down on me, i would have realized that i should put some of the liquor boxes in those boxes and could have fit it all. but i had another solution. i just stuck the loner bin in the passenger seat. as i started to back out, i realized that i couldn't see a damn thing behind me. but crisis averted. a guy in a truck saw my plight and motioned that i could go.

so now i'm back all safe and sound, boxes hauled into the apartment and bins chilling in the car (they're to store the stuff that's currently stored in the furniture at my parents' house that has to be emptied so the furniture can go and the clutter can stay). anyway... i just figured i'd take you guys on the adventure with me. if i remembered the audioblog info i would have considered it, but no luck. oh, and elay, the OJ crisis is averted. month old orange juice is in the dumpster.

P.S. Keep them in your prayers.